The Slowly Sinking Sun
by Settiai
Summary: She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the warm sea breeze gently blow through her hair.


Title: The Slowly Sinking Sun

Author: Settiai

Disclaimer: "Stargate Atlantis" and other related characters belong to their copyright holders. No infringement is intended. This story, such as it is, was written as a sign of respect and love for the characters, the series, and their creator. I claim no ownership of the aforementioned series and characters.

Rating: PG

Summary: She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the warm sea breeze gently blow through her hair.

Feedback: Comments and helpful criticisms are always appreciated.

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Teyla closed her eyes for a moment, letting the warm sea breeze gently blow through her hair. She hadn't had a chance to relax in months, not since they had discovered that the Wraith were on their way. Back then, they had been too busy preparing for the inevitable to worry about unimportant things such as sleep, and even though she had spent several days in the infirmary after their attempt to communicate directly with the Wraith, she hadn't truly been able to rest.

They had been preparing to die.

Shaking her head, Teyla opened her eyes and let her gaze focus on the sun slowly sinking on the horizon. Even now, she had trouble believing that the strange men and women she now considered her friends could possibly have survived. She still woke up at night, her breath coming out in loud gasps as she tried to convince herself that her nightmares of death and agony were nothing more than dreams.

Now that the others had returned from Earth, she hoped that life would return to normal. Or, at least, as close to normal as was possible considering how many had been lost in some way or another during the attack. Atlantis had seemed to lose something while Doctor Weir and the others were gone, however, which had made their efforts even more difficult. She and Radek had been busy the entire time trying to bring life in the city back to how it had been, attempting to teach the newly arrived Major Lorne what he needed to know about life in the Pegasus Galaxy….

Teyla had still missed them.

She shook her head in amusement, smiling a little as she watched the fading sunlight light up the ocean's waves. Even after a year of living in the city of the Ancestors with them, she still couldn't believe how much she cared about the strange men and women that she had found such a close kinship with. When she had first met them on Athos, she had felt certain that she would never see the strangers again once they left her world.

Fate had different plans.

"What on earth are you doing out here?"

Teyla started, and she couldn't keep a surprised expression from appearing on her face as she spun around. It was rare that anyone could make their way near her without alerting her to their presence, and Doctor McKay was far from being an exception to the rule.

"You startled me," she explained, smiling slightly when she saw him raise an eyebrow at her reaction. "It appears that your training has been more than a … I believe the phrase you used was 'complete waste of your highly valuable time?'"

Rodney snorted. "You weren't paying attention," he said, shaking his head as he walked over to stand by here. "Just don't do that around Sheppard. His ego's already inflated enough from his promotion, and I don't even want to contemplate what he'd be like if he managed to sneak up on you."

Teyla stared at him, barely resisting the urge to smirk.

Even without a physical reaction, it was as if he could read her thoughts. He rolled his eyes as he let his own gaze drift out over the ocean. "You're getting as bad as the colonel."

"I did not say a word, Doctor McKay," she protested lightly.

He didn't even glance at her. "You thought it," he said matter-of-factly. "That counts."

Teyla raised an eyebrow. "You have the ability to read minds?" she asked lightly. "Doctor Zelenka did not mention finding any new technology when I saw him earlier this evening."

"Ha ha," Rodney shot back, still not looking at her. "It looks like you really have inherited the colonel's sense of humor."

She merely smiled as she let her own gaze drift back over the ocean. The sun had almost set, and the shadows of evening had begun gathering on the waves. She knew from past experience that it would not be much longer before they disappeared into the darkness, the sound of the waves crashing against the city the only proof of their existence until the sun rose again the next morning.

They stood there in silence for several minutes, neither of them looking at the other. Then, with a sigh, Rodney broke the silence. "You never answered my question."

Teyla finally glanced over at him, blinking once at the unreadable expression on his usually expressive face. "You usually do not expect an answer," she pointed out.

"Well, I did this time," he snapped.

She raised an eyebrow, but she didn't comment on the tone of his voice. Instead she looked out over the ocean one last time before sighing. "I just needed a few minutes alone."

Although she wasn't looking his way, Teyla could picture the expression on Doctor McKay's face: a hint of embarrassment hidden behind cocky self-assurance.

"Ah," he said, suddenly sounding lost for words. "Well then, I should just leave you to that. The whole being alone thing."

With a quiet laugh, Teyla glanced back over at him. "I've been alone long enough," she said gently. "Why don't you answer your own question?"

He stared at her blankly.

"What are you doing here?" she prompted.

"Sheppard's trying to keep his mind off what happened with Ford, so he's trying to arrange an impromptu movie night," he said with a shrug. "He apparently managed to smuggle in quite a few DVDs on the Daedalus, and he wants to do some kind of 'get-to-know-you' thing for some of the new faces."

Teyla merely raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he snapped. "It's not like it was my idea."

"I have no difficulty believing that," she said, smiling when he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her carefully worded reply. "Where is this … impromptu movie night, taking place?"

There was a glint in Rodney's eyes that she couldn't quite read as he glanced at her. "In that empty room we found right before the siege," he said with a hint of a smirk. "Apparently someone turned it into some kind of rec room while we were back on Earth."

Teyla's smile grew just a bit as she turned and headed for the door. "Is that so?" she asked casually. "I wonder how that might have happened without my knowing."

"So did I," Rodney said, eyeing her a little as he followed her toward the door. "Then Sheppard told me to come find you … and to tell you that he had the ice cream he owed you. Something about a promise he made back when you first moved into the city?"

"Really?" she asked, not looking back. "How odd."

He snorted. "That's what Radek said when I delivered Sheppard's message for him."

She glanced back at him and winked, barely restraining a laugh at the flabbergasted look that appeared on his face. "He was promised something called fudge, correct?"


End file.
